US Women Building Peace Award: Nigeria’s Mairo Mandara Emerges as Finalist

The U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP) has announced the three finalists of the 2024 Women Building Peace Award.

One of the finalist-awardees is Dr. Mairo Mandara, the Chief Adviser to the Borno State Governor on Sustainable Development, Partnerships, and Humanitarian Affairs, and Coordinator of the Humanitarian Agency.

A statement by Prof Usman Tar, Borno State Commissioner of Information and Internal Security says Dr. Mandara carries the burden of coordinating the humanitarian space in Borno State and working closely with MDAs to ensure the delivery of sustainable development and peace-building in the state.

In addition, Dr. Mandara has carved a niche for herself in girl-child education and empowerment. She believes that the girl child is the bulwark for social change and societal development.

As the founder of the Girl Child Concern (GCC) which established a secondary school for girls internally displaced by the insurgency, Dr Mandara successfully mounted a campaign which, at the height of the Boko Haram insurgency, trained over 250 IDP girls from Borno and Yobe states to complete secondary school outside the state. Some of these girls have graduated from university while others are still ongoing.

A message on the USIP dashboard elaborates on the Award: “USIP received nominations of women peacebuilders from 52 countries. The finalists were selected by USIP’s Women Building Peace Council, a 16-member group of experts and leaders in the fields of gender and peacebuilding, for their extraordinary dedication to creating sustainable peace in their communities. Collectively, Lilly BeSoer, Visaka Dharmadasa, and Dr. Mairo Mandara represent three countries facing complex and challenging conflicts and embody exemplary leadership as peacebuilding practitioners.”

The Borno State Government is proud of the recognition of Dr. Mandara for this prestigious award, both as a daughter and peacebuilder of the state.